Big Spender: The $1,600 Pumpkin Seed

10/29/2013 12:56PM

In recent years, America has become obsessed with plus-sized pumpkins, making the pumpkin circuit more competitive than ever. Growers are paying a premium for the seeds from prize-winning pumpkins. But $1,600 for one seed? Charles Passy reports. Photo: Getty Images.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... a sixty ... eight dollars for ... a punk is seeing ... what you might be one to twelve record breaking size Canon one D are you tens of thousands of dollars ... in prize money just in time for Halloween I've expanded Thomas MarketWatch ... Charles Passy ... has been sussing out the details ... are right when we're China price size pumpkin like ... how big is big ... well they just ... broke the two thousand pound mark ... it was last year and this to this and yet another record ... with a little but like two thousand and thirteen pounds so we're we're talking great pumpkins and great prize money do I look in every yen to thirty granted for that that latest yet I mean the ... pumpkin growing has become a legitimate sport the new house a lot of its content to said that you know this and I'm I'm not denying the enemy not gotten very proud of sauce this I mean it's it's that were talking ... many contests local chapters and he can be a few hundred dollars but it can be up to thirty thousand dollars ... aam but yet to put a lot to get a lot into it both momentarily and physically ... to get a pumpkin that will get a physical sign just a minute but let's start with the monetary and this scene which I've seen pumpkin seeds in oh about their kind at this big ... sixteen hundred dollars where does that come from well he comes from guess what the prize winning pumpkin ... on in this case the sixteen under Dollar seed I came from a pumpkin that was the record breaker at the time the two hundred pounds it was three years ago ... and it yielded only something like twenty six seeds so that already put a premium ... everybody who grows these giant pumpkins wants to get their hands on the seeds because ... the AP is a obviously it's a good breeding stock basically so however China investment in the sixteen hundred are saying well now there's no guarantee they will get ... any has a lot of work and writing I've been swatching and you can just like you could just rent seem to gravitate sunlight that have common of all sorts of things right and and and and the guys in the gizmos the guy to do this on taking very seriously so yes they are ... so ... they are looking for more than they put together Specialty compounds ... they have special ... aam breeding techniques the good ground fingers all sorts of work involved ... and and it takes months ... and even then a lot of is just plain lucky the weather is with you pray it's not then you may not get to that we live we want the next male bragging rights watch confiscated than your calm Arike by ... ministers to manage ... da needs this kind of mind and all of you that that that the thing about it is I thought I would start ... poking around this her final case of the real prices can be like uh hundred dollars ... for a great seat ... in fact many of the champion growers will give away seeds from ... maybe not the two thousand pound pumpkin Buchman in all likelihood seven hundred come on ... don't give away the seeds for free ... because a ... aam if you're not enough to be in this community they are happy to have you as a member of the club ... and he um they're trying to improve the reputation so if they if they can show that their seat ... on yields great pumpkins it reflects on the reputation as a grower so in many instances they're happy to give you the seeds for free he joins pumpkin associations pumpkin clubs ... in some instances you up to pay but generally we're talking more like ... five to twenty five dollars for a championship see the awesome seats that to go for a few hundred and sixteen hundred at the tail carving pumpkins race day ... the enormous night